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Increasing temperatures reduce invertebrate abundance and slow decomposition

ABSTRACT: Decomposition is an essential ecosystem service driven by interacting biotic and abiotic factors. Increasing temperatures due to climate change can affect soil moisture, soil fauna, and subsequently, decomposition. Understanding how projected climate change scenarios will affect decomposition is of vital importance for predicting nutrient cycling and ecosystem health. In this study, we experimentally addressed the question of how the early stages of decomposition would vary along a gradient of projected climate change scenarios. Given the importance of biodiversity for ecosystem service provisioning, we measured the effect of invertebrate exclusion on red maple (Acer rubrum) leaf litter breakdown along a temperature gradient using litterbags in warming chambers over a period of five weeks. Leaf litter decomposed more slowly in the warmer chambers and in the litterbag treatment that minimized invertebrate access. Moreover, increasing air temperature reduced invertebrate abundance and richness, and altered the community composition, independent of exclusion treatment. Using structural equation models, we were able to disentangle the effects of average air temperature on leaf litter loss, finding a direct negative effect of warming on the early stages of decomposition, independent of invertebrate abundance. This result indicates that not only can climate change affect the invertebrate community, but may also directly influence how the remaining organisms interact with their environment and their effectiveness at provisioning ecosystem services. Overall, our study highlights the role of biodiversity in maintaining ecosystem services and contributes to our understanding of how climate change could disrupt nutrient cycling.

SUBMITTER: Figueroa L

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8580216 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:OBJECTIVE:Despite huge global, national, and local preventive measures including travel restriction, social distancing, and quarantines, the outbreak of novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) develops the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) worldwide pandemic. SARS-CoV-2 emerging from Wuhan, China, took only three months to cover >200 countries worldwide by infecting more than 2.4 million people and killing more than 150,000 people. Although this infection at the early stage creates seasonal flu-like symptoms with a higher illness, it eventually causes a higher mortality. Epidemiological studies not only find the causes of many health issues but also suggest preventive measures. This study aimed to see the link between environment temperature and COVID-19 cases. STUDY DESIGN:The monthly average environment temperature (MAET) and various COVID-19 cases of a country were collected and analyzed to see the relationship between these parameters. METHODS:Univariate analysis and statistical modeling were used to determine the relationship between environment temperature and different COVID-19 cases. RESULTS:This study found that the majorities of the countries having higher COVID-19 cases are located in the higher latitude (colder region) in the globe. As of 20th April data available, statistical analyses by various methods have found that strong negative correlations with statistical significance exist between MAET and several COVID-19 cases including total cases, active cases, and cases per million of a country (Spearman correlation coefficients were -0.45, -0.42, and -0.50 for total cases, active cases, and cases/per million, respectively). Analysis by the statistical log-linear regression model further supports that the chance of patients to contract COVID-19 is less in warmer countries than in colder countries. CONCLUSION:This pilot study proposes that cold environment may be an additional risk factor for COVID-19 cases.

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Increasing temperatures reduce invertebrate abundance and slow decomposition

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